THE CONCEPT OF CRITICAL THINKING IN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Critical thinking is considered a key competence, which is necessary for the citizens in participation in daily life, and in the society and enables employees to make decisions and start activities; it becomes one of the essential characteristics that employers expect their future employees to have. Scientists continuously raise the question of critical thinking (Lloyd & Bahr, 2010, Liu, Mao, Frankel, Xu, 2016 and others), what specific skills of critical thinking should be developed and how to make them adjustable in practice and remain stable, if the existing instruments of assessment are sufficient (Facione, Facione, 2013; Lai, 2011, Gudžinskienė, 2006). The existing variety of conceptions of critical thinking presupposes discussions about the skills, which are necessary for a critically thinking individual. The purpose of this presentation is to analyse the concept of critical thinking in higher education context based on multidisciplinary studies of critical thinking. In the investigation of the concept of critical thinking relating to multidisciplinary researches of critical thinking in Lithuania and abroad the analysis of discourse was involved. The selected strategy of the research helps to understand the concept of critical thinking in higher education context, to analyse this phenomenon in the background of different disciplines. Analysis of scientific literature and theoretical meta-analysis were used in the research. The performed research showed that cognitive and non-cognitive dimensions develop in the interpretation of the concept of critical thinking in higher education context. Critical thinking is identified as cognitive and reflexive process of thinking including components of cognitive skills and dispositions, which enable to identify, analyse, justify decisions and arguments, to make decisions and to present problems for consideration. When analysing the interpretations of the concept of critical thinking it is important to identify which elements of the critical thinking concept and which results of critical thinking are emphasized in different sciences or in different areas of professional activities. The research has established that the skills of critical thinking are not linked to any specific area of science; in all of them the focus is on the skills orientated towards the process of problem solution in different professional fields.